The poems, Nutting and the stolen boat episode of the prelude are very similar, they both show the boys movement into experience and at the end it shows that the boy has regrets for his recklessness, but thankful for the knowledge gained of natures spirit. Both are full with sexual imagery.
The poem nutting shows a progression of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood much like in the prelude. Both poems have an object which they cannot resist going into with the secret, untouched bower in nutting and the shepherd's boat in the prelude. In both poems the boy goes where no one has ever been before and ruins the feeling of the untouched atmosphere. In nutting he "dragged to earth both branch and bough" showing his recklessness, doing things without thought before he sees what damage he has done and regrets his actions. This is also shown in the prelude when his boat left "small circles glittering idly in the moon" as if polluting the clam, tranquil lake.
Wordsworth also mocks his boyish naivety as he sets off "tricked out in proud disguise of cast off weeds". Showing it was his first experience wearing clothes he'd never thought of wearing before as if it was a costume, showing a childlike impression of his experience. This same inexperience is shown in the prelude when he goes out in the boat without thinking, looking for adventure. In both poems it seems as if someone is watching him when he sees the "intruding sky" in the nutting poem looking down on him as if disappointed in what he has done wrong. This is also shown in the prelude when he rows up to the big cliffs which rose up "like a living thing" also as if nature is displeased with what he is doing.
Both poems are similar in the way that they follow a boys change from adolescence to adulthood. The protagonists in both poems are both naïve and reckless doing things without knowing what might happen and after their experience they have become more mature and realize their mistakes which they both regret.
